Quincy Hall is a CFP® professional with 14 years of experience in the financial services industry. He founded Hall Financial Services, Inc. in 2018 after prior roles at Cetera Advisor Networks and Mass Mutual Investors Services. Hall also teaches financial planning concepts as a lecturer at The College of Marin Community Education and publishes educational content through his Advice Only business. Hall Financial Services, Inc. serves individual and high-net-worth clients with personalized financial planning and advisory services, offering standalone Advice‑Only™ planning engagements and coordinating with third-party investment managers for clients seeking ongoing portfolio management. The firm maintains a separation from asset management and product sales, focusing on educational content and selective use of outside managers.

Mark Lovett is a financial advisor at Tourmaline Capital Management LLC with 15 years of industry experience. He has worked at Tourmaline Capital since 2011 and previously spent 12 years at UCSF. He holds a Series 65 designation. Tourmaline Capital Management LLC provides investment advisory services primarily to individual clients, managing approximately a dozen relationships with $3.5 million in assets. The firm offers discretionary portfolio management and non-discretionary hourly advice, constructing portfolios tailored to client risk tolerance and investment goals using equities, ETFs, and money-market instruments.

Cheng Su is a financial advisor at Whiteswan Trading Corporation with six years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and previously worked at Hubei University of Economics and Zhongnan University of Economics and Law. Whiteswan Trading provides investment advisory services, financial planning, and hourly consultations to individual and business clients. The firm’s approach emphasizes value investing and strategic asset allocation, using fundamental, technical, and charting analysis to tailor portfolios primarily involving exchange-listed securities, ETFs, equities, and options.

Greg Deforest is the sole advisor at GD Investment Advisers LLC in San Francisco, holding a Series 65 designation with 11 years of industry experience. He has managed his independent firm since 2014. GD Investment Advisers LLC provides discretionary investment advice and portfolio management for individuals, small businesses, and institutional clients. The firm employs fundamental analysis to pursue absolute returns over a 3–5 year horizon with a concentrated portfolio primarily focused on U.S. equities and options, and it incorporates active use of derivatives, leverage, and performance-based fees in its separately managed accounts.

Sammy Sung is a financial advisor with ALE LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and bringing 24 years of industry experience. He has been affiliated with ALE LLC since 2015 and is also involved in real estate brokerage through Exit Excel Realty and Exit Realty Team. In addition to his advisory role, he acts as a trustee for a family trust established in 1997. ALE LLC provides portfolio management, financial planning, and pension consulting services to individuals, pension plans, pooled investment vehicles, and business entities. The firm manages primarily non-discretionary accounts using a range of analytical methods and investment strategies, and is notable for its involvement in real estate brokerage, insurance distribution, and pension consulting.

Jason Roth is a financial advisor at Centoic with two years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has prior work history spanning seven years at StackFlip LLC and seventeen years at LogicEase Solutions Inc. Centoic provides advisory services focused on education savings for individual investors through a technology-driven platform that offers subscription-based access to online educational materials, planning tools, and portfolio guidance, complemented by optional hourly financial-planning consultations. The firm emphasizes passive asset management using automated analysis and delivers advice without holding client assets.

Jake Birnberg is a financial advisor at Empowering Financial in Berkeley, CA, with 10 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and has previously worked at Portsmouth Financial Investment Advisory. In addition to his advisory role, Birnberg operates Deduction Detectives, a tax planning, preparation, and representation business, and holds active licenses as a real estate and insurance agent. Empowering Financial provides ongoing investment management and financial planning services to individuals, small business owners, trustees, and fiduciaries. The firm uses a diversified investment approach and offers personalized Investment Policy Statements, combining fundamental, quantitative, and tactical asset-allocation analysis with hands-on oversight that integrates investment, tax, insurance, and real estate matters.

Herb Meiberger is a CFA® charterholder and principal of Gator Investment Advisors, LLC, with 11 years of industry experience. Prior to founding his independent firm in 2022, he worked at Berkeley Investment Advisors for eight years and held long-term academic positions at San Francisco State University and Hult International Business School. He also served on the San Francisco Retirement Board for 25 years. Gator Investment Advisors provides discretionary asset management to individual and high-net-worth clients, tailoring investment programs to each client’s goals and risk tolerance using fundamental and cyclical analysis. The firm maintains a small client base and operates with a designated custodian, Charles Schwab.

Stephen Miles is a financial advisor at Sutro Advisors with 24 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and previously worked at Charles Schwab Bank and Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. for 13 years before joining Sutro Advisors in 2018. Sutro Advisors provides tailored investment management and financial planning to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and businesses. The firm primarily uses passive portfolios with index mutual funds and ETFs, complemented by fundamental, technical, and cyclical analysis, and also offers portfolio management for corporate and institutional clients.

Aaron Baker is a financial advisor with Baker & Associates Registered Investment Advisors, LLC in San Leandro, CA. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has 18 years of industry experience, including roles at DeVry Education Group and his own advisory firm. His professional activities include insurance sales and business consulting alongside financial advising. Baker & Associates Registered Investment Advisors, LLC provides portfolio management and investment advisory services primarily on a non-discretionary basis to a small number of individual clients. The firm combines traditional portfolio management with private placements, insurance brokerage, other financial product sales, and educational seminars.

Stephen De Luchi is the sole advisor at De Luchi Investment Management in Alameda, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with five years of industry experience. He has been self-employed as a consultant since 1992 and has operated his investment management firm since 1996. De Luchi Investment Management provides ongoing investment supervisory services to a primarily individual clientele as well as pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and business entities. The firm emphasizes fundamental analysis of economic value and growth potential, supplemented by technical analysis, and employs a range of strategies including long- and short-term positions, short sales, margin transactions, and option writing.

Daryl Wong is the sole advisor at Tula Investment Group LLC in Oakland, CA, holding a Series 65 credential with 13 years of industry experience. He has been with Tula Investment Group since its founding in 2013. Tula Investment Group LLC provides discretionary investment management and financial advisory services to individual and high-net-worth clients. The firm emphasizes a value-oriented, small-cap, and contrarian equity approach, complemented by opportunistic, event-driven research, and employs performance-based compensation for eligible investors.

Randy Benning is a CFP®-certified financial advisor with 33 years of industry experience. He is the principal of Benning Financial Group, LLC, an independent firm he has led since 2002. Prior to founding his firm, he worked at Triad Advisors, Inc. for nine years. In addition to his advisory work, he is also an insurance broker and owner, licensed with several carriers. Benning Financial Group provides discretionary portfolio management for individual investors, corporate entities, charitable organizations, and pension and profit-sharing plans. The firm employs a combination of fundamental and cyclical analysis and utilizes long-term, short-term, and trading strategies, including derivatives and option strategies, tailored to client objectives.

Wenjia Liu is a CFA® charterholder with five years of industry experience. Liu is the sole advisor at Teapot Investments LLC, having previously worked at Nuveen and Ned Davis Research, Inc. Teapot Investments provides advisory services to registered investment advisers, family offices, endowments, foundations, corporations, and individual clients. The firm combines fundamental analysis, proprietary quantitative models, and tax-aware strategies to design strategic asset allocations, offering both institutional and individual advisory services alongside a subscription-based software platform.

Much like you don't wait to join a gym until you're healthy, you shouldn't wait to work with a financial planner until you're wealthy. Unfortunately, the financial industry historically only wants to work with clients who have -insert any seven-digit-minimum amount of assets-. The good news is there are now plenty of financial planners who will gladly work with clients regardless of how much they have already saved. I am one of those planners. ;) I've been a financial planner for over a decade now, and I've worked lots of different clients from all walks of life. I've come to learn that sticking to the basics and keeping things simple is the best approach when helping clients develop a financial plan. My role is to help guide you on your path to financial freedom. New clients start with a financial plan. This is where we talk about your goals, time horizon, and all the numbers. We’ll review different scenarios so you can see what’s possible. By the end of the initial plan, you should be up and running, moving in the general direction of your goals. From there, we move to ongoing financial planning in which we meet semi-annually to monitor your plan and make adjustments when needed.

Ziming Huang is a Series 65-licensed financial advisor at MJ Capital Management LLC with one year of industry experience. Prior to founding his firm, he worked at American Express and Acquco, and held roles in academia at Columbia University and UCLA. MJ Capital Management LLC is a fee-only registered investment adviser providing discretionary investment management and individualized planning to individuals, high-net-worth clients, charitable organizations, and businesses. The firm employs a multi-disciplinary investment process combining fundamental and technical analysis with Modern Portfolio Theory, integrating both passive and active strategies alongside a proprietary quantitative algorithmic trading approach focused on liquid U.S. equities and options.

Bruce Ritter is the sole advisor at Ritter Wealth Counsel, an independent fee-only wealth management firm based in San Rafael, CA. He holds a Series 65 designation and has over 36 years of experience in the industry. Ritter Wealth Counsel serves primarily high-net-worth individuals and families, as well as trusts, estates, pension, and charitable organizations. The firm offers customized investment programs implemented mainly with passive index funds or ETFs, maintaining predominantly non-discretionary client relationships and a small, concentrated client roster.

John Dowling is a CFA® charterholder and principal advisor at JFD Capital, LLC, with nine years of industry experience. He previously worked at Fairview Capital and the Golub Group (now Summitry) before founding his current independent advisory firm. JFD Capital is a small independent registered investment adviser that provides ongoing, tailored portfolio management primarily to high-net-worth individuals. The firm employs a bottom-up, fundamental research approach focusing on undervalued equities and fixed-income securities, offering discretionary management and performance-based fee arrangements to qualified clients.

Tyler Ribera is the sole advisor at RIBERA Investment Management, LLC, an independent firm based in Alameda, CA. He holds a Series 63 designation and has 26 years of industry experience, having led his firm since 1999. RIBERA Investment Management, LLC provides discretionary portfolio management and investment advice to individuals, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm employs a diversified asset-allocation approach focused on risk control and primarily uses no-load and load-waived mutual funds, ETFs, and other securities, with accounts generally managed on a discretionary basis.

Matthew Wright is the principal of Wright Financial, LLC in Pleasant Hill, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with 26 years of industry experience. His career includes roles at Geneos Wealth Management Inc, Independent Financial Group, LLC, NPB Financial Group, LLC, and Seel & Wright, LLC. He also serves as a trustee for a family trust. Wright Financial, LLC provides investment management and financial planning services to individuals, trusts, estates, and small businesses. The firm manages approximately $74 million for around 118 clients, using a non-discretionary advisory approach based on Modern Portfolio Theory and a core-and-satellite investment strategy.